How to print from phone or tablet

Is there an app to print from my mobile phone? 

Mobile apps for iOS and Android are usually available for free and are downloadable from the App Store or Google Play. Make sure you download the app which supports your specific printer model. After installing the app on your smartphone or tablet, the printers on the same network are usually recognized immediately. You can then print files from your mobile devices without delay.

Find the file or photo you want to print from your smartphone or tablet and then share it with the printing app on your smartphone or device. Usually there are various options available in the app, such as the number of prints you want to make, in color or black and white, single-sided or double-sided and options for printing on photo paper, just like on a computer or laptop. 

Brother has free mobile apps for printing a variety of files, including PDF, photos, Microsoft Word and Excel files and emails from smartphones or tablets, directly to a Brother inkjet or laser printer.

What can you print with mobile apps?

• PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and text documents - from the list of document files or downloads, or from other applications such as Google Drive or iCloud. 
• Photos - directly from the app, from the photo album or from social media apps and WhatsApp.
• Websites – print web pages directly from various internet browsers
• From the clipboard - print data, photos, text and selected parts of web pages copied to the clipboard from other applications.

What you can and cannot print will depend on the printing app from your printer manufacturer as not all apps will have the full list of printing capabilities as above.

Can I scan documents to my mobile phone or tablet? 

If you have a multifunction printer, such as an all-in-one printer with scanning capabilities, you can also scan paper documents to your smartphone or tablet. 

Open the manufacturer's app and choose scan. Once the document has been scanned by your all-in-one printer, it will be displayed on your smartphone. You can then rotate, crop and edit the scan. 

You then have several options: save the scanned file to your phone or tablet, send it by email as a JPEG or PDF, or save it to the cloud, such as iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive. 
Scanning documents is not supported by all apps, so check if your printer manufacturer offers this in the app. 

Brother has a wide range of printers and all-in-one printers, for both home and office use, suitable for printing from and scanning to smartphones and tablets. In addition, visitors, employees or family who are connected to the Wi-Fi network can also use printing options. 

Plugins and solutions for printing from your mobile phone

In addition to apps from printer suppliers, there are also other options for printing files from mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. These are general plugins that are pre-installed on mobile devices by device manufacturers or can be downloaded separately. The advantage is that these plugins - unlike apps from printer manufacturers - work for multiple brands of printers. The disadvantage is that such plugins often only offer standard printing options and no additional options such as a choice of color or black-and-white printing and double-sided printing. In addition, scanning functions are not supported.

These are the most popular plugins and solutions for printing from a smartphone or tablet:

Apple AirPrint
With Apple AirPrint you can easily print from an Apple iPhone and a printer that supports AirPrint. The app makes it very easy to print emails, photos, web pages and documents as there is no software to install. AirPrint is built into most iOS mobile devices, such as the iPhone and iPad.

Mopria Print Service
Print directly from an Android device to a printer that supports Mopria. Quickly connect to the printer via the Wi-Fi connection to print emails and other documents. Download and install the Mopria Print Service plugin from the Play Store and you're all set to print from your smartphone or tablet.

Cortado
Cortado lets you print to a compatible Brother printer connected to your smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Cortado Cloud Printing is available for Apple, Android, and BlackBerry devices. You can print various file formats, such as HTML e-mails, Excel, PDF and PowerPoint files, without having to install the corresponding application.

Near Field Communication (NFC)
NFC is a new technology that enables transactions, data exchange and a wireless connection to be established between two devices within close range of each other. With the help of NFC you can easily establish a wireless connection by holding a mobile device with NFC support against a printer with NFC capabilities. You can then print directly from and scan to your mobile device.

Wi-Fi Direct
Printers that support Wi-Fi Direct can connect directly to a smartphone or tablet without going through a router or hotspot. You can print directly from or scan to mobile devices. Wi-Fi Direct makes printing emails, photos, web pages and documents a breeze. There's no software to download, no drivers to install, and no cables to connect. 

Brother apps for printers 
Brother has several apps for printing files from Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. These apps also provide advanced capabilities that standard print plugins and services lack, such as colour or black and white printing, printing on photo paper, and simplex or double-sided printing. In addition, the apps allow scanning of files directly from a Brother printer to mobile devices, such as iPhone, iPad or Android smartphones or tablets.

Brother iPrint&Scan app
Brother iPrint&Scan is a free app that allows you to print files from and scan to an iPhone, iPad or any smartphone and tablet equipped with an Android operating system. All you need is a Wi-Fi network and a Brother printer or all-in-one printer that supports this. The app is easy to install and easy to use. As soon as you install the app, it will search the network for supported printers, so that you can print the desired files at any time.

• Simple and fast way to print photos, web pages and documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text documents)
• Print documents and photos directly from Cloud service such as: Dropbox, OneDrive, Evernote.
• Save scanned documents to your Android mobile device or send them by email (PDF, JPEG).
• Use without the need for a computer, laptop or driver.

Brother Mobile Connect app
Brother Mobile Connect is a free app that, in addition to printing and scanning files to and from mobile devices, also allows you to keep track of your printer's ink and toner levels and easily order the right cartridges. The app works via Wi-Fi and is available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones or tablets.

• Print documents, photos and web pages (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text documents)
• Scan photos and documents directly to your smartphone or tablet (PDF/JPEG) for printing, sharing or saving.
• Change printer settings and monitor ink or toner levels.
• Customize the home screen to quickly access frequently used functions.

Brother Service Plugin for Android
The Brother Print Service Plugin is specially designed for Android mobile devices (version 5 or higher) and can be downloaded from Google Play. With the plugin you can print from an Android smartphone or tablet to a suitable Brother printer via the available Wi-Fi network at the touch of a button.

Print labels from mobile phones

It is also possible to print labels from mobile devices. A variety of apps are available for printing labels from smartphones, tablets or specific mobile devices used in retail, warehouse and healthcare environments. Using these apps makes it very easy to print labels directly from a smartphone, tablet, laptop or other mobile device via a wireless Brother label printer. 
Brother also supports professional label design and printing services such as Bartender and NiceLabel.

Print from and scan to web and cloud services

With Brother printers and scanners that have web connect functions, it is possible to connect directly from the device to various web and cloud services, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Evernote and Box. This connection allows you to print from and scan directly to these popular services without going through a computer.